Unicyclic and bicyclic graphs having minimum degree distance (Q2462359)

The degree distance of a graph \(G=(V,E)\) is \(\frac{1}{2}\displaystyle\sum_{x,y\in V} d(x,y)(d(x)+d(y))\), where \(d(u,v)\) denotes the distance between \(u\) and \(v\), and \(d(w)\) denotes the degree of \(w\). The author proves that (1) the minimum degree distance over all connected unicyclic graphs with \(n\geq 3\) vertices is \(3n^2-3n-6\) and the unique extremal graph is obtained from the star \(K_{1,n-1}\) by adding an edge, and (2) the minimum degree distance over all connected bicyclic graphs with \(n\geq 4\) vertices is \(3n^2+n-18\) and the unique extremal graph is obtained from the star \(K_{1,n-1}\) by adding two edges having a common endvertex. The author also characterizes connected unicylic and bicyclic graphs in terms of degree sequence.